islation will be as well done as it was under the old.
The session of the legislature in 1843 came to an end on April 11th, and
on the seventeenth of the same month Wilmot became a member of the
government. His appointment had been preceded by the resignation of five
members of the government--Messrs. Black, Shore, Robinson, Odell and
Crane--and by the appointment of Messrs. E. B. Chandler, Hugh Johnston,
John Montgomery and Robert L. Hazen, to fill the vacancies thus created.
Of the retiring members two--Messrs. Black and Shore--were members of
the legislative council; one of them, Mr. Crane, was a member of the
House of Assembly, while the other two were officials who did not belong
to either branch of the legislature. Of the new members of the executive
council, Messrs. Chandler and Johnston were members of the legislative
council, Messrs. Hazen and Wilmot were members of the House of Assembly,
while Mr. Montgomery had no seat in either House. The executive council
as made up at that time included four members of the legislative
council, three members of the House of Assembly and Mr. Montgomery, who
did not become a member of the House of Assembly until three years
later. There is no doubt that the composition of the new executive
council was more in accordance with correct principles than its
predecessor; yet little could be expected from it in the way of Reform,
for Wilmot was the only member who was in favour of responsible
government.
{ENTERS THE GOVERNMENT}
Mr. Wilmot has been censured for entering a government composed of men
who were opposed to the liberal views he held on public questions. It
was thought by many that his conduct in this respect looked too much
like a surrender of his principles for the sake of office or official
position, and it certainly would have been better if he had continued in
Opposition. Yet we can easily conceive that he may have thought at the
time he could do more for the cause of Reform inside the government than
out of it, and, although this proved to be an error, it was a natural
one for which it is not difficult to find an excuse. Fortunately for the
cause of Reform, Wilmot's connection with the government did not last
long at that time. A storm was gathering in an unexpected quarter which
was destined to wreck the government, and to cause some of its
Conservative members to reconsider their opinions with reference to some
questions which until then they had regarded as fi
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